The Seconds of the Daleks
by Revfew
Summary: The Daleks have seconds to live. And they've brought the Doctor back to earth, back to UNIT and his old friend Maxine Vaughn, to save them. But something, or someone, waits in the wings...
1. Chapter 1

The planet Earth was instinctively half-clad in darkness, a darkness which clung to the world like an immovable pest.

It had been their goal to invade for so many years, to be the masters of the pitiful rock that lay below them. They had the power, they had the might!

They were a spaceship full of space rabbits. Like normal, earth rabbits, but with the ability to not float in zero gravity. Their leader, a rather docile creature called Biggins, hopped about aimlessly, while his fluffy minions sniffed the floor and nibbled the air. Their control room was then entered by a tall man, proud and striding.

"Sorry fellas, can't stay. Don't like lettuce, although I will take any celery off your hands."

Biggins hopped at the Doctor.

"Nope! Got to set you on course for somewhere else naturally. But where to? Oh, I know! Calufrax, here you go!"

He hotwired the directional unit, and tossed a bright orange carrot to the ground.

"Help yourselves!"

He then bolted out to the TARDIS and vanished into the vortex. Biggins wrinkled his nose and hopped towards the carrot.

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllll **

The Doctor wasn't expecting the TARDIS to shake violently as it travelled through the Vortex. He grabbed the scanner.

"Time tunnel! I won't stand for this!"

He darted around the console, slightly playing up his movements.

"K9, track the source!"

"Affirmative, master."

"Oh, and connect to the console while you're at it!"

"Affirmative. Source located, connecting to TARDIS."

The ship shook again, and the Doctor stumbled. The sonic tumbled out of his pocket and slid to the door. The shaking stopped, as did the time rotor. The Doctor picked up the screwdriver, straightened his bowtie and stepped outside. He found himself within a corridor, outside a door marked "Danger. Subject 5 Inside". Underneath was smooth, hard granite, flecked with dirt. There was a disheartening silence, which was counteracted by the faint hum of the TARDIS.

The Doctor exited with K9.

"Stay here and keep guard."

He opened the door, getting the wiff of metal. Inside was a clutter of machines and paper, along with the remnants of takeaways. There was a man with glasses, taking notes at a desk. He raised his head and saw the Doctor.

"Who the hell are you?!" he barked.

"I'm...uh, John Smith. Dr John Smith."

The man stood up and saluted. The Doctor had a moment of realisation.

"Oh, please don't tell me I'm-"

"Welcome to UNIT, sir."

"Who's there?" a female voice drifted from the back of the room. A figure followed, one that the Doctor recognised. She recognised him too.

"You!"

"You!"

"But- why-wait -woah-"

"You! UNIT! Together! Suppose it's nepotism, what with your friend-"

"Husband-to-be- why are you here?!"

"Time tunnel. Dragged here, rather abrupt and totally uncool. Mind if I bring my dog in?"

He opened the door and K9 rolled in.

"K9! You actually listened to me for once!"

He nodded.

"So, what's wrong?" he asked. He had dropped all humour.

"What?"

"I can see it in your eyes. Something's wrong and I'm not meant to know about it. I presume it's in the back. I'll go back there if neither of you show me."

Maxine sighed.

"It's...it's not pretty."

He was led to the back room. It was dark, which was amended by harsh lights switched on by a heavy switch. The Doctor staggered back, as the vision of a Dalek in chains filled the room.

"Doc-...tor..."

The Doctor looked at Maxine in alarm.

"Where did it come from? WHERE DID IT COME FROM?!"

"We d-don't know! It just...fell, really. We brought it back for analysis. It's weak, hasn't attacked, and until now has been clichéd and only said 'exterminate'."

"Doc-...tor...Doc-..tor...Doc-tor."

He moved closer.

"What do you want, huh? Why did you come here?"

"We are dy-ing."

"How?"

"We _are dy-ing!_"

"So what?"

"Help the Da-leks. Save the Da-leks."

"Why should I? Why should I save the ev-"

"Pl-ease."

He froze.

"What did you just say?" The Dalek was silent.

"_WHAT DID YOU JUST __**SAY**__?!_"

"Pl-ease. Pl-ease help the Da-leks."

He walked away. Maxine grabbed his arm.

"Woah woah woah! Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"I don't have to help them. If I do, I put the whole planet, the _cosmos _in danger!"

"And you let lives run out."

"_Evil _lives. Lives that will destroy any good left in the universe!"

"They're still lives."

"You want me to show the Daleks mercy?"

"No, I want you to show the Daleks dignity."

He cupped his hands on his face and dragged them downwards with a heavy sigh. He walked back towards the Dalek.

"How are you dying?"

"Our tra-vel mach-ines have pois-oned our bodies."

"How?"

"There is an immen-sely un-stable ele-ment in Poly-carbide. It is kil-ling us."

"Then create new shells. It isn't that hard; you recreated yourselves using the Paradigm."

"It is imposs-ible."

"Then I can't fix it, can I?"

He looked back at Maxine.

"Did any others come through?"

"If they did, you'd be talking to them."

He looked back to the Dalek.

"How did you create a time tunnel, huh? If you're so weak?"

"It was not me."

"Who was it then?"

"The plaaague ship."

"A Dalek plague ship. I dread to think. Well, come on then! Call 'em down!"

"Are you insane?!" whispered Maxine.

"Well of course! But you wanted me to show them dignity. So I'll show them dignity."

Three Daleks appeared in the room. They were grimey and rusting, with gashes in their casings and a red light in their eyestalk instead of the usual. They approached the Doctor slowly.

"Help us." one uttered, its headlights turning blood red whenever it spoke. He took out the sonic and scanned it around, doing his usual thing of flicking it up in front of his face.

"But that's...something. Alright, I'll help you."

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllll **

All four Daleks were lined up and connected to the biggest vat the Doctor could find. Inside this was a chemical cocktail of his creation, which when prompted would feed into the Daleks.

"Now, I've got this-"

"Linked up to a computer, yes I know Doctor. By the way, called Gabriel. Says he'll be here soon to catch up."

"Thank goodness, considering the full on war I'm about to start."

"War?!"

He addressed the Daleks.

"I'm not that stupid, dears! I know a strain of the Kaled virus when I see one!"

"What?"

"They infected themselves. Back when they had legs, the Daleks, or Kaleds as they were back then, involuntarily invented a virus that wiped out the Indoghbahk system. Quite apt when you think about it, Kaleds being homicidal beings before mutation."

"One: Kaled to Dalek is stupid and unimaginative. Two: does this mean..."

"We're facing invasion, extermination and discomfort? Regrettably yes. I just want to know something- who's brainchild was this?"

"Oh Doctor, I should think you would know by now..."

He froze as a voice crackled out of one of the Daleks.

"But you're..."

"Dead? When have I slumbered long enough to die?"

Maxine poked him.

"Who is it?"

"Tell her, Doctor."

"That's...that's Davros, creator of the Daleks..."


	2. Chapter 2

Gabriel went through the numerous security checks, handing his card over to each person manning security. His feet first scraped the cold and rough gravel, before embracing the smooth indoor flooring.

The last couple of months had been bliss for him. He'd gotten together with Maxine, gotten higher with UNIT, and gotten a bit of compensation for the whole "Sending Throughout Time" thing. He was equally looking forward to meeting the Doctor again after all this time, keen to learn about anything interesting.

He entered the corridor and saw the TARDIS. He smiled like a giddy child, fixed his jacket and got ready to go inside.

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllll **

"How did you survive the Crucible?"

"As creator of the Daleks, I was granted personally by myself a form of temporal shift. I simply transported myself, atom by atom, to the fields of Orion. From there I found my Daleks, a new form."

"Oh right yes, the new Paradigm. My fault, actually, great story for another day. But what now? What happens?"

"You die."

The Daleks encroached.

"Ex-ter-min-ate!" they barked in unison.

"What do we do?!"

"Hope Daleks have a poor aim!"

Gradhem stepped out, and was immediately killed by a Dalek. The door opened, and Maxine turned her head. Gabriel ran towards them.

"No!" she screamed, but to no avail.

"Ex-ter-min-ate!"

A shot blasted through Gabriel. His body's innards were illuminated momentarily, before fading away. He fell, dead, to the floor.

"You've just made me a very angry man Davros!" The Doctor screamed. The Daleks disappeared, seemingly disinterested in the Doctor and Maxine.

"Maxine, I-"

"No! I'm done! Done with all of this!"

"He would've fought on."

"He would've had more sense! We can't all be like you, the infallible soldier."

"Never said you had to be. Just finish this, in his memory."

"We're going to get Davros, for him. Then I'm done. No more TARDIS, no more space."

"Fine. That's fine. But you need to trust me."

"I trust you."

"Good," he said, walking around, "now, big Dalek ship up there unnoticed. Only one place, again, for it."

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllll **

The ship hung in space, hidden behind the Moon. Inside was a squad of Daleks, in the middle of which was Davros. His travel machine had slight burn marks on the lower parts, a product of the destruction of the Crucible.

The TARDIS dematerialised on-board, and the Doctor, Maxine and K9 came out.

"So, Davros lives in the flesh."

"Indeed. So I see you have gained a new face."

"And a new lease of life."

"How splendid. It shall be used to watch the earth burn."

"But why are you doing this? I mean, what's the point?"

"There are Daleks out there wary of my support. A successful invasion of Earth will...reevaluate the situation."

"Non-death has driven you even crazier, Davros!"

"Life has been ebbing around me Doctor, and I have watched every particle of its existence fade out and turn to cinder. I have dwelled in the darkness for too long, felt cobwebs form at my fingertips. I have fought the war, the _cold war_, for eternity. The conquest of Earth shall be my rising, my rebirth from the ashes of the past. The Kaled race has _died _with me, Doctor, and so I shall carry on their legacy. The Daleks are that legacy!"

The Doctor sighed and smirked.

"The Daleks are useless. Sorry Davros, but that's the truth. And I think you know that. Ever since that day on Skaro, all those years ago. Did you ever think about how they'd turn out? The Daleks, the ultimate tool of war. Defeated time and time again, by humans, by Thals, by Movellans, even by Exillons. Time after time, day after day, minute after minute Daleks fall, Daleks die, Daleks fail. And every day you keep on coming. Just how long before you stop, huh? How long until you realise that _they are protected?! _That I have done my best to make sure any Dalek in the cosmos quivers in fear when they hear two words. It can be any two words. The Oncoming Storm, the Question, or my personal favourite...The Doctor."

"Such arrogance. A Dalek built on your principles would be ripe for victory."

"Yes. Because it wouldn't be a Dalek, it'd be something good and honest and protective and downright sexy sometimes. You built your Daleks on a foundation of hate. That foundation is crumbling, Davros. And for once, you'll be going down with it."

Davros laughed, and moved back slightly. He rattled his fingers on the control panel in front of him.

"Doctor, in my many years of life and death I have decidedly learned a trick or two. For starters, the power of evasion."

He vanished in a blue light, along with the Daleks. The Doctor kicked the ground in anger, and turned to Maxine.

"Only one option."

"Which is?"

"Blow this up. Get rid of the ship, which will cut off the teleport network."

"And that will work?"

"In theory, yes."

He skid over to the control and began to push every button. A claxon sounded.

"Redirected all power back into the engines. Back into the TARDIS, and we'll look at it from a safe distance."

The TARDIS vanished, and the ship around it began to crumble. Daleks remerged from the teleport and were destroyed in the carnage. However, Davros was noticeably absent...

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllll **

Maxine stood outside her flat complex, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have engaged with them."

The Doctor walked towards her, followed by K9.

"You're alright. I...I just..."

"I know. I'm going now, but I have a gift."

K9 trundled over to her.

"Really?"

"He deserves a calmer life. Plus, he makes good toast."

He turned to walk away.

"Doctor, you know that stuff the Lekar told you?"

He turned.

"Yeah..."

"Well, I did some research and-"

"It's ok."

**lllllllllllllllllllllllllll **

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor stood. He listened to the hum behind him, felt the energy pass through his body. He looked at the scanner, displaying information on the Suns of Agrenor.

"Not yet."

**The Doctor will return **


End file.
